
A/V zine
Pair 2
Band:
Spookyfish
Artist:
Lady Parul
Birth of a Universe
by LADY PARUL
The Birth of a Universe


The Birth of a Universe
Seeing the world through a macro lens is like accidentally discovering you are God to a tiny microscopic world underneath your camera. You have the power to control, create, destroy, manipulate and replace everything and anything within seconds in this very small area. It's absolutely fascinating to experience and that is what I like to capture when I create my art. I don't think we realize that even when we have stopped moving, we are still impacting change whether we see it or not.
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For my piece I drew imagination from the lyrics of the song '...All the things you know...' and as I sat there contemplating on that idea what I know and don't know, I was inspired to create my own interpretation of what I think the birth of a Universe looks.
An Oddslice of Spookyfish
“Oddslice is a very personal album,” says Dani Ramez, who records under the moniker Spookyfish.
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“It was written during a pretty intense time of my life, and represents a change in form. I sampled a lot of fabric sounds ripping and tearing and then reversing them to make it seem like they were being sewn back together.”
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It is this combination of creativity and personal connection that drives her music; that much is evident all across her newest EP.
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Attachment and detachment are strong themes across all the tracks, and Dani utilizes many extended techniques – such as sampling ripping fabric – to bring these themes to life.
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Ramez began making music at 11-years-old, experimenting with recording on her father’s four-track. Though she was interested in looping sounds and building layers of instruments, it was not until she moved into digital recording that she began to take music seriously.
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“Spookyfish is a project that is always growing and changing,” she explains. “It originally began with more of an electronic edge, but I’ve slowly been gearing to an organic feel.”
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This continual growth has led Ramez to collaborate with many other artists. Several of her songs soundtracked the short film, Wolves Beyond the Timber, made by a director working out of Dubai who found her work on SoundCloud. In her recording process, she will occasionally add vocalists to her otherwise mostly instrumental tracks.
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“I believe that collaborating with vocalists brings whole new meanings and dimensions to songs that I personally wouldn't have thought of,” she explains. “Working with others not only changes my outlook on a song, but also the ways others will experience or relate to it. I never have a set idea for a track – it usually grows and changes as I’m making it, and having a vocalist is sometimes the best boost to a new concept.
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“I use my voice more as an instrument or texture. I’ve always had a difficult time with singing and writing, so I like to leave that part to others occasionally.”
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But this struffle is not is apparent in the Spookyfish’s songs. From the opening notes of “Detach” through to the final ones of the closing eponymous track, Oddslice washes over listeners and brings them into a new world full of texture.
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Ramez – who plays guitar, bass, keys/synth, and percussion on the album – explains that she uses these various instruments to express herself, even if she is not using words.
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“The origin of a song will start with a feeling or something I want to express, and from there I will build off that,” she says. “I don't like to set anything in stone when I’m writing because sometimes I will come back to it five months later and it will mean something completely different.”
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Spookyfish, which has been actively releasing music since 2013, truly first began as a project when Ramez discovered the recording label Ghostly International. Inspired by the sounds that the label was releasing, Ramez found a new side of music that did not exist in her world before. She also says that Gold Panda is one of her biggest influences, loving his ability to “take the weirdest of sounds and build them into something beautifully orchestrated and so in depth” – something that Spookyfish is quickly becoming an expert at.
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“Another major influence is those around me,” she concludes. “I’m so fortunate to have so many dear friends who are beautiful, talented artists who challenge and inspire me everyday. I am constantly learning and growing from them.”

